Phantom Tennis Player
by Nami Heartfilia
Summary: New school, new life. Or so what our favorite basketball player believes. No one really knows about his past from his previous school. But as he ventured with his new team & friends, the past began to unravel itself & hunt him.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Kuroko Teatsuya, a teal- haired young man, entered his new school. Seigaku Middle School. He continued to walk until he was abruptly stopped by a green-haired teen that was probably in same age as him seeing his 'short' height.

''You.'' the green-head called.

''Me?'' Kuroko pointed at himself.

''Who else idiot?''

Well, that was first. No one can absolutely see him on their first meeting.

''The tree...'' Kuroko replied, showing no emotion at all.

Echizen Ryoma, the green-head, leaned on a tree. Damn! He had no idea where his classroom is! He searched for a near student. Pang! He saw a teal-head. He called the said teal-head.

''Me?''

'Is he an idiot?' Ryoma thought.

''Who else idiot?''

''The tree...'' the teal-head replied.

That irked him. His vein almost pop.

''Tell me what class areyou...'' Echizen demanded.

''Class ** '' Kuroko replied.

''Same. Tell me where's the classroom.'' Ryoma said as he picked up his things.

Kuroko widened his eyes in realization. Is the curse of having 0% presence have been broken? He was talking with someone right now casually. This school is different.

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Or maybe not...

After giving the green-head directions, he stared at the blue sky. New school, New life.

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Or that is what he believes.

As soon as he arrived at his classroom, Kuroko spotted an empty seat beside the young man he had met earlier. He quickly settled in.

''Okay! I'm ...''

Now, our two players were not really listening in class, both were at their 'La La La Land' or thinking something such as their future in this new school they've entered.

''Class, you're dismissed.'' the teacher said.

With that, the student's began to crowd at the exit/s of the classroom. Ryoma started to pick up his things &amp; started to head out just then,

''Domo. Echizen Ryoma-kun desu ne?'' Ryoma recognized the one who called him as the teal idiot from earlier.

''And you are?'' Ryoma raised a brow. He never got to know this kid's name (Nami: Kid? Hey...) neither heard of it during the class.

''Oh... I never got to introduce myself during class.''

''Why's that?'' Ryoma stared at him for a while.

''They forgot...''

''Forgot what?''

''They forgot about me...''

''Wha-?'' That was unexpected. Really, that was **reaaaaallly** unexpected. Who could forget a human nowadays?

"Kuroko Tetsuya."

"?" Ryoma stared the boy for a moment.

"My name... You were asking for it right?" Kuroko asked.

Ryoma nodded, still a lil' dumbstruct.

"So, nice to meet you, Echizen-kun" Kuroko bowed politely.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Two freshmen walked in silence at the hallway. Both were heading to their shoe lockers (or something) which are next to each other. Ryoma opened his and placed his indoor shoes inside. As soon as he closed the door of the locker, his eyes went wide in surprise when he saw Kuroko beside him. He swore no one was there a minute ago.

''Echizen-kun, you play tennis?'' Kuroko asked, his voice as monotone as ever.

''What do you think?'' Ryoma twitched as he asked that.

''I guess you do.'' Kuroko said. ''Planning to join the club then?''

''Yes.'' Ryoma said.

Conversation cut short. Basically, these two weren't much of a conversationalist. Not that they have anything to talk about.

''Why are you following me?'' Ryoma asked.

Wow. way to start a conversation.

''I was planning to observe every club.'' Kuroko said. ''I guess I'll start with the Tennis Club.''

With his brow raised, Ryoma asked. ''You do sports?''

''A little. I joined a sports club back at my previous school.'' Kuroko replied.

''You don't look like you do one.'' Ryoma said bluntly. ''You look like a person who collapses on the tenth lap.''

''You're one of the direct and very good player, aren't you?''

* * *

Apparently, the regulars went to another school for a practice match. That leaves the registering tomorrow. Left at the sideline of the courts were Ryoma, Kuroko, Horio (apparently their classmate) and other two freshmen in different classes, Katsuo and Kochiro. But that was until three upperclassmen approached them for a little game of hit a can saying that it was a tradition and of course money was involved...

_**They reek bad sportsmanship, **_Kuroko thought as he saw the freshmen trio enthusiastically accepted the challenge without suspecting that they were conned. By the title freshmen trio, that meant excluding a certain green-head.

Ryoma just watched as he saw his fellow graders fail to hit the can. _**Such an easy task, **_he thought to himself. _**T**__**hey lack accuracy...**_

''Man, I almost got the last one.'' Horio said as he reached out for his wallet in his pocket. The other two did so too. They pulled out 200 yen coins and gave them to the upperclassmen whose faces changed from welcoming to something bad (bully faces).

''I think you guys got it wrong.'' one of the upperclassmen, Arai, said. Then everything followed the flow. Tricks were revealed. Yen part and everything, I mean.

''Childish trick you have there, sempai.'' Kuroko said. ''Pebbles in can?'' He said it with his usual tone and poker face.

_**So he knew? **_Ryoma thought. He, then, smirked.

''Are you accusing us?'' Arai asked. ''There's **no **way we could do that.'' He, then, looked at his friends, Ikeda and Hayashi, with an evil gleam on his eyes. The said friends smirked. ''But if you insist that we did,'' Arai looked at Kuroko again. '', mind if you try and hit the can yourself? Prove it to us that we did. But, if you can't...'' he trailed off before continuing. ''Pay us double the amount these three owe us.''

**_Good job me, _**Kuroko thought to himself. But before he could accept or decline the opportunity to **prove **himself, someone beat him up to it.

''I think I should take that honor.'' Ryoma said. ''You don't mind, right?'' Kuroko shook his head for an I-don't-mind answer. ''What about you, sempai-tachi?''

''Hmph. Anyone will do.'' Arai said, confident that anyone wouldn't be ale to hit it.

Ryoma took out his red racket out of his tennis bag. Ikeda handed a ball to the green-haired freshman who took it before he took his stance to serve.

**Thwack.**

The ball hit the racket and flew right at the rim of the can, successfully opening it and revealed its glorious contents.

_**Such accuracy! **_Kuroko mused as he saw Ryoma smirked and ignoring the exclamations of a certain annoying freshman and also their dear classmate.

The upperclassmen trio gaped. Ryoma got another ball with him and hit it perfectly that he hit the can. The can fell down and spilled its contents.

''I can hit it for a hundred times, so are you willing to pay me a hundred fold of the price?'' Ryoma asked. The upperclassmen gritted their teeth before the sound of a ball hitting the can heavily interrupted.

''Now, now. Just because the regulars aren't here doesn't mean that you can go and bully freshmen, Arai, Ikeda, Hayashi. You can't do that. Can't do.''

Everyone turned to the new comer.

''Momo!'' Upperclassmen trio exclaimed. ''We were just leaving.'' With that they were gone in a flash.

Ryoma got his back and went to exit the court but 'Momo' stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder.

''Who said you can go?'' 'Momo' asked. Then he introduced himself. ''My name's Momoshiro Takeshi. 2nd year. You can call me Momo-chan. Your name?''

''Echizen Ryoma.''

Momoshiro smiled or grinned. ''Mind to play a match with me?''

Ryoma smirked. ''Don't go regretting this then, sempai.''

* * *

**And I freaking rewrote the second chapter. I was not satisfied and there were plenty of mistakes. So point out any mistake you could find for me to edit it. Chapter three will be up soon.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

''Sempai, are you picking a fight?'' Ryoma asked.

''Nope. I'm picking a tennis match.'' Momoshiro said.

''Eh, with whom?'' Ryoma asked as he checked the racket on his hands and examined the strings.

''With you and no one else, midget.'' Momoshiro said.

_**They sound like soon-to-be couple if it weren't to the term tennis match. Echizen-kun sounded like a hard-to-get woman,**_ Kuroko thought.

''Eh, Don't go regretting this then, sempai.'' Ryoma smirked.

Momoshiro just made an 'I-wont' face and made his way to the other side of the court. Then Kuroko noticed something wrong. Is sempai limping? It's unnoticeable but, his musings cut short when Horio volunteered to be the referee. The two then decided who goes first. Ryoma guessed wrong but Momoshiro gave him the opportunity to serve first, claiming he heard from the old lady counselor that Ryoma knew how to do Twist serve. A bunch of gasps were heard for those who knew what it was.

"Don't go easy on me now, kiddo.'' Momo said. "Come to me with all what you've got!''

"That's for me to decide, Sem…'' Ryoma trailed off as he hit the ball for the serve. "… pai!''

The ball went to the corner at Momo's right.

Momo looked at Ryoma. "I refuse slice serves.''

"But I don't wanna….'' Ryoma said but needless to say he did served with the twist serve.

The ball went down exactly in front of Momoshiro before springing up at the second year's face. He actually managed to guard his face with the racket but due to the force, his racket was blow away.

**_This is tennis?_ **Kuroko watched with his mouth slightly open. Impressed how everything played in front of his eyes he thought, _**Maybe I can…?**_

Momo slowly hit the twist serve. Sure he missed the first ones but that can't keep him from trying. He can hit it. Time only matters when he can return it. Ryoma seemed to be unfazed by the fact that the older was slowly adapting. Momoshiro grinned.

'_**There!**_' Momo returned the serve. It hit the net and went to Ryoma's side of the court. ''Lucky!'' he said.

Ryoma started again with a twist serve as the service. Momo recieved it. Ryoma ran towards the net. He hit a drop shot.

'_**This guy is not a joke.**_' the second year thought. He was panting slightly hard and sweating like every players do. '_**Damn. I'm on my limit. I gotta end this fast.**_'

Ryoma who had been using his right hand until now, switched to his dominant one. The sempai widened his eyes and everything clicked. '_**I see. So he knew.**_'

Before Ryoma started his service, Momoshiro put the game to a stop. He'll never win in his condition. Ryoma willingly stopped. He packed his things and went out of the court. The freshmen trio surrounded him and a couple of young ladies.

''He's a force to be reckoned with.'' Momo said.

''You're injured.''

Momoshiro jumped at the voice. It startled him but not scared him to shitless. He turned to his side and saw Kuroko. ''Since wh-''

''From the very start, sempai.'' the teal-head said. ''I was watching at the side lines from the start to the end.''

''Oh.'' Momoshiro smiled nervously. ''Was my injury that... obvious?''

''No. Barely noticeable.'' Kuroko said. ''I spent my time observing people. So I kind of knew something was wrong. In sports, people intend to hide their injuries especially those who got their places in the regulars.''

''You sound like you've got experience.'' Momo said. ''Freshman, right? You a player, kid?''

''... I guess I am. I joined a sports club at my former school.'' Kuroko said. ''Not tennis though.''

''So watcha doing here?'' Momo asked.

''Observing.'' Kuroko said. ''You shouldn't force yourself playing, sempai. In sports, the player's body is the player's life line.''

''Thanks for the advice.'' Momoshiro said. 'What a weird kid.'

''Ja ne, sempai.'' With that the phantom disappeared.

''I'm looking forward to the fight for the spots.'' Momoshiro said, smiling as he watch Ryoma go with annoyance as some people accompanied him telling how awesome he was. '_**I wonder who's the kid from earlier.**_'

* * *

**Short chapter but I updated. The length of the chapters depends on my mood. All of my stories will be like that**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Kuroko spent his days watching Ryoma and the Tennis club. He observed them doing their regime and such. Their styles and quirks.

Its been days since the con-incident from the first day and plenty of events such as the event he dubbed as the ''Broken Racket Incident''.

Since entering the school, he had been plagued by a certain thought...

Tennis.

As he watched the regulars (he could name them) and couple of others, he couldn't help but think of the past.

_Multi-colored haired teens laughed together. Playing together. Ha-_

Kuroko shook his thoughts. He looked at the tennis club with slight envy. He used to have the same amount passion towards something. But right now, he couldn't even spare that thing a glance because when he did he always get flashes of dull faces and terrified ones, even broken. He couldn't bear it... Maybe one day he can. But, right now... Kuroko bit his lower lip and left the fence. He could feel emptiness drown him. He knew he lost something. He knew what he lost. He feels far from it but... maybe it's for the best?

His train of thoughts were cut short.

''Yo.'' Ryoma greeted. ''You were watching again, huh.''

''Observing.''

''They're the same.''

''I prefer the term Observing, Echizen-kun.'' Kuroko said. Ryoma rolled his eyes.

''Right.''

''What are you doing out here?'' Kuroko asked.

''End of practice and I have to get my bag at the club room.'' Ryoma said. ''Don't you have any club?''

Kuroko shook his head. ''Not yet.''

Ryoma hummed. ''Well see you.'' he turned towards the club room.

''Wait.'' Kuroko said. Ryoma stopped on his tracks and his head turned to Kuroko. Kuroko opened his mouth but said nothing. He closed it and opened again. ''Nevermind. Sorry for bothering you.''

''If you say so.'' Ryoma went to his journey to the club room.

Kuroko sighed and turned to the courts again, most were cleaning up already. He looked at the regulars then he caught the gaze of the captain on him.

It was an unofficial staring match between them. Continuing til a regular, if he correctly remember, named Fuji, called out the captain's, he knew as Tezuka, attention. Kuroko took it a cue to disappear from the scene.

''What are you looking at, Tezuka?'' Fuji asked, his brow rose as he followed the other's gaze but saw nothing.

''Nothing.'' the said teen turned away fixing his glasses on the bridge of nose.**_ I swore I saw someone,_** he thought.

... Thus the start of the rumor, Phantom of the Tennis courts...

* * *

Tezuka Kunimitsu stared at the sheets in front him. So far he had already filled out the other spots of the other set for the upcoming Inter school Ranking Tournament. He was stuck at D.

Ranking tournament was for 3rd years and 2nd years to determine the spots of the regulars.

Yet, despite of that, a certain first year had made quite an impression to everyone.

Tezuka closed his eyes. Opening it again and inhaled, he wrote down on the last box,

**Echizen Ryoma**

The tennis club captain and stood up, picking up the sheets and headed towards the faculty where one Ryuzaki-sensei would be.

* * *

Kuroko stared at the ceiling of his room. Sky blue eyes were blank, rarely blinking at all.

_It's for the best._

Those words have been encircling his head since then.

_It's for the best._

How would it be for the best?

_It's for the best._

It wouldn't hurt to try... Right?

* * *

**Finally! I typed this before my birthday. To be honest, I have been diagnosed with serious level of... Writer's block. Hey! I'm not joking (if you're laughing, chuckling, snickering or what churva is that). It has been happening since the start of school. But meh, I'm really a meanie =| (Courtesy from my friend code named Seighart... [Yeah I know from Grand Chase]). Not that long chapter still but please review. It might help me lengthen the chapters. Sorry for not replying to you people BTW.**


	5. PLEASE READ!

Dear Readers,

WHOA?! When did this story reached 170 follows and over hundred of favorites?

So, the thing is...

I'm going to re-write this. A. G. A. I. N. for the sake of everyone and mine. I won't be updating til then. So, See ya~

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You might want to visit my profile to see my schedule of update stories...

Your authoress,  
**Nami**

**P.S. **I'm terrible. I know.


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